i know what you mean. these days, im kinda ashamed (i dont know if thats the right word to describe it) of being an airsoft player. people say 'airsoft? whats that?' and i really dont have an answer for them. i just end up saying 'oh, its like paintball without the paint'. on the bright side however, i remember the days when paintball was the same way. we need to step our 'becomming a respectable community' game up.... significantly.

If you try
 

To get your indoctrination into this sport through an online forum... you will get all the crap the comes with it.

Smart new players.. come on here... read.. figure out whats what and whos who and connect via PM or by going to a game..

These are the type of players we want in the community... NOOB or not they have passed the first test...and will be (usually) welcomed...

I have successfully culled a great number of new players from here.. who never posted on ASC.. but PMed me and asked to come out to TTAC3.

Most of these players have gone on to be active and solid contributers to the community..

ASC is not the airsoft community... the airsoft community exists in the the various teams, and groups that participate in the actual activity of military simulation and skirmish.. at places where that happens...

The illusion of community here... is exactly that... an illusion.. this place is rife with trolls and chair-softers who typically don't own airsoft guns.. or have never actually participated in the activity.. except maybe once or twice with a borrowed gun.. yet feel completly enpowered to pontificate based only on the virtue of their post count...

New players... you want in ... you want to learn the ropes... PM someone who has a clue... and find yourself a mentor.. it will save you time money and keystrokes...

Oh, is it this time of year again?

Yeah, it's the season where people have more time to spend on here and come up with all those great opinions and ideas as to how the sport should be.

Don't you love it ?

Sigh...I guess we'll bring out the "canned" answers.

considered getting the can opener then changed my mind:confused:

Kinda like a nasty corn filled shit. You think its gone after one flush, but usually some part of it comes back.

And yes Colin you are correct, but I perfer to think of it as not newb--> player--> asshole. I just think of it as newb--> asshole.

I don't blame 'em. They don't know any better.

Ha!Ha!

So you guy's are saying this type of thread comes up each year?

so funny...

edit.

just making it clear...always forget, newb is bad, but noob is not so bad?

newb = asshole
noob = new guy who knows...well almost less then nothing.

right?

Brian said it, again. I say it all the time; unless life totally stops you GO to a darned GAME.
What you can learn there makes this site like a cheap kindergarden popup book.

You're new? You are really interested? Find the contacts and games on here and just go.

Sometimes this place looks like a bunch of teenagers drooling over cars when they dont even have a driver's license (or the right to have one). And when the same teens have the chance to go see a race or car show (to learn more), they stay home and read magazines.

This site is FULL of resources that so very few use. It's sad.

This kind of thread comes up every other month or so. We get the Airsoft Savior of the season out to assemble all the newbies into a force to be reckoned with.
Take note of how many who approve and are ready to save us all are not age-verified. There's a clue in there someplace.

Want to learn something for real? Hang out with folks like Morb or Brian. Then you'll learn something. (No, I'm not ass-kissing, I dont need to nor do I care to).

i feel like I'm one of those...but hey, don't try to make me believe you didn't drool over something when you knew you couldn't get it at the moment...:D

Yes, I did, then I went out to see it instead of just reading about it because reading did not give me anything except a vague idea of what I was looking for could be like.

By going to see, I met like-minded people who shared their knowledge freely, and learned even more.

This process has not stopped either. All you have to do is go.

you are right about going to games. i would love to go to more myself, but i dont want to spend the $50 to rent a gun, when xmas and xmas money is just around the corner. some people are perhaps in the same boat (though i HAVE been to games and paid the $$$ to rent), they might just save up all those $50 can buy a gun. The problem is, when they get to like $300 in their savings, they come on here to ask which gun is the best for that amount of money. which brings us back to greylocks point about going to games and renting guns to learn the ropes. You should never get into a sport no matter what without playing it first. Even though i KNEW i would love airsoft without having to play it, i still participated in some games. i think we just have to learn to accept that this problem of people asking the same questions over and over again is infinite. we should just learn to accept it and rise above it as that is our job as vets of the sport (me excluded obviously). i think that we should somehow make it so that you HAVE to read the stickies before your account becomes activated or something like that, or make the FAQ button in the middle of the page so that people cannot miss it. i know that when i first joined up, i missed it, but once i was "politely" directed to it, it was relatively smooth sailing from there. thats just my 2 cents though...

Its funny how everyone says how they aren't assholes most of the time, and they don't flame, but when someone brings up a problem, most people are quick to say how its not going on, and that this topic is brought up over and over again, ironic eh? To tell you the truth, if I have question, I e-mail other airsoft people, or go onto a different forums to ask because I am usually afraid that i will get flamed and told to "use the search button"; I usually just lurk around on these forums and read stuff, but I only ask questions as an absolute last resort. The sport may be growing, but just because its growing, doesn't mean more people will show up to games. If you really think about, this is a fun hobby. People can collect guns they have always wanted, and even better, they get to shoot people with them! Its a hobby for people to meet new people who share a common intrest, and you make new friends, and get some fresh air and excercise. So with this in mind, why do people have to act like they have something shoved up there ass? If we flamed every new person who came here because they don't make an impressive first impression, then this sport will die. People just need to relax! Were guys who dress up in camo and shoot little plastic bb's and each other with toy guns, not neon colored speedballers.